


Aegis

by Dedicate Kiwicrocus (cranky__crocus)



Series: SMACKDOWN '11 R2, R3, Final - CIRCLECEST [16]
Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen, Goldenlake, smackdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-06
Updated: 2011-06-06
Packaged: 2017-10-20 04:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/208892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cranky__crocus/pseuds/Dedicate%20Kiwicrocus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They wondered how they would learn to teach, especially without each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SMACKDOWN at Goldenlake: fiefgoldenlake.proboards.com

Rosethorn’s hands had been both sure and patient throughout her tutelage, no matter how severe or snappy her voice had grown. Briar could not have grown faster than with Rosethorn’s roots to guide him.

            Lark’s hands had been both soft and strong throughout her tutelage, no matter how many times her eyes wandered to check her student’s work. Sandry could not have grown faster than with Lark as her lead thread.

            Frostpine’s hands had been both supple and firm throughout his tutelage, no matter how many times he turned to grin at metal singing in four ears rather than two. Daja could not have grown faster than with Frostpine’s frame to follow.

            Niko’s voice was both sharp and steady throughout his tutelage, no matter how many times his eyes widened at what his student could already accomplish. Tris could not have grown faster than with Niko’s endless pages to peruse.

            The four learned from their teachers and from each other, during lessons and in quiet conversations by the hearth. They learned and taught much without notice—a sort of passive experience.

            They wondered how they would learn to teach, especially without each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Briar, Daja, Sandry and Tris experienced the pride only known to teachers for a student; they shared that too.

Briar strove every day to teach as Rosethorn had, but found her aegis impossible to emulate. He realised his growth had taken another form: he supplements his teaching with more humour, more smiles and the touch of patience Rosethorn had not often allotted to her human kin. Evvy and students after grew and learned.

            Sandry strove every day to teach as Lark had, but found her aegis impossible to emulate. She realised her growth had taken a different twist: she weaves her teaching with more sternness, more stories of application and the touch of nobility that Lark had often avoided. Pasco and students after grew and learned.

            Daja strove every day to teach as Frostpine had, but found his aegis impossible to emulate. She realised her growth had taken a different frame: she melds her teaching with more creativity, more independence and the appreciation for curiosity that Frostpine, a non-Trader, did not consciously understand. Jory and Nia and students after grew and learned.

            Tris strove every day to teach as Niko had, but found his aegis impossible to emulate. She realised her growth had taken on a different story: she imbues her teaching with more consistency, more explanation and the touch of tolerance that Niko had little need for. Keth and students after grew and learned.

            The four wrote letters—pride, grumbles, rantings and scribbles—across the land and sometimes sea. Other times they shouted from different floors of the Cheeseman House, voice booming through air or magic. They found that no matter how far they travelled, they were not apart: they could teach together.

            Their students learned through active and passive moments. Briar, Daja, Sandry and Tris experienced the pride only known to teachers for a student; they shared that too.

            (And occasionally, over an evening tea or morning breakfast, they compared notes and competed as they boasted of their students’ successes or most ridiculous defeats.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lark finished, “They learned something after all.”

The four Circle mages and their four former-and-always-present teachers—eight great mages together—sat around the Discipline kitchen table as they had a decade prior. All laughing or chortling and grinning or smiling—as their personalities dictated—in the low lighting of candles.

            Briar thought of Evvy and the new plant student he was teaching, Mere, with her over-enthusiasm and the havocs she occasionally wreaked with it. Evvy was in her novitiate now. “We don’t really change them, do we? We just give them the conditions to grow.”

            Sandry thought of Pasco and Comas, and her new student, Ulla, who excelled with magicking clothes. Comas was in his novitiate now as well, but still seldom spoke with any he did not spend time with in Discipline—and sometimes not that, either. “We just give them the warp for their weft, don’t we, and they go from there?”

            Daja thought of Jory and Nia, and her new student Phirun, who could work wire into intricate displays of beauty and magic. The twins still wrote to her monthly, together. Jory was now able to run the hospital canteen, freeing Olennika Potcracker to travel from time to time; Nia jointly ran a carpentry shop by the water, was being courted by a shipwrights lad and no longer feared fire. “We’re just the foundation and framework, aren’t we? They grow around us into themselves.”

            Tris thought of Keth and Glaki, and her new student Radek, who could feel the weather coming even before she could and shape it as if it were clay. Keth ran a glass shop and feared his lightning little now; he had created a glass watchdog for himself and all the children gathered to see and feed it coloured glass-drops daily. “There’s just as much learning in teaching as being taught,” she concluded.

            Their four teachers exchanged looks, flashing and fleeting but strong nonetheless.

            “What do you know,” Rosethorn started.

            Lark finished, “They learned something after all.”

            “Our four stubborn mages,” Niko agreed, nodding with the hint of a smile.

            Frostpine barked out his laughter. “Fancy that!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! C: Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
